Mosby items and derived items © 2005 by Mosby, Inc. Chapter 23 Communication.
THE SALESFORCE OF THE FUTURE - PharmaVOICE...all healthcare practitioners and these tactics will...
Transcript of THE SALESFORCE OF THE FUTURE - PharmaVOICE...all healthcare practitioners and these tactics will...
80 Nov emb e r /D e c emb e r 2 0 0 9 PharmaVOICE
f the past year is any indication, thesalesforce of the future is going toexperience an extreme makeover. Forone, it will be much smaller. The cut-
backs and layoffs of 2008 continued heavilyinto 2009, with patent expiries and mergersfelling reps by the thousands. Almost daily,the news featured stories of industry sales repslayoffs, massive buyout packages, plant clos-ings, and acquisitions. The salesforces that sur-vive will be lean and specialized.To succeed in the tough times ahead, sales-
forces — what’s left of them — will need toreinvent the way they approach physicians fromboth a messaging and a method point of view.Reps will use more targeted interactions via theInternet rather than face-to-face meetings, ourexperts say. These drastic changes are not badnews; rather, the results of a highly educatedsalesforce could lead to better patient outcomes.Despite all the changes, no one expects the
role of the sales representative to disappear, butit will become more service-oriented and growto include expertise on third-party payers andpharmacy benefit managers. In the future, sales representatives will be
more highly educated and trained; consulta-tive; comfortable with evidence-basedmedicine and clinical studies; and knowledge-able about their product, competitive products,and the disease state, as well as each healthcareprofessional’s practice, says Rick Keefer, presi-dent and CEO of Publicis Strategic SolutionsGroup. “We believe there will always be a place for
professional field sales teams in biopharma,”Mr. Keefer says. “The model, however, willexpand to include other types of representa-tives; many companies will have a highly cus-tomized mix, including traditional field salesrepresentatives, customer field service teams,clinical health educators, medical science
liaisons, virtual or inside sales and serviceteams, and live video detailing experts.”This multitalented sales mix is a current
trend in the industry that is gaining traction,says Nicholas Landekic, president and CEO ofPolyMedix.“Salesforces may be smaller, but they will
be more diverse in terms of the specialists onthe team,” he says. “A successful team willinclude MSLs to provide clinical informationto practitioners, as well as economists andfinancial analysts to interface with formularyand benefits managers.”Celeste Mosby, regional VP, life sciences, at
Wilson Learning, says the current model willevolve into more of a regional customer servicemodel, helping customers with service-relatedissues and appropriately integrating product-focused messages into their dialogues. To facilitate this customer-focused model,
territories will become regionalized, so the reps
can become intimately knowledgeable withstate reimbursement and government policies,and therefore better at addressing needs partic-ular to the healthcare provider, employergroups, payers, and patients, Ms. Mosby says. “There is a focus in some organizations on
restructuring salesforces into regional businessunits,” she says. “This type of service modelwill require more internal support from acrossfunctional areas of expertise, including exper-tise in government and reimbursement.” Raj Singh, VP and general manager at
Formedic, agrees with Ms. Mosby’s prediction. “The salesforce of the future will highlight
education and interaction, while being moreregionally based,” Mr. Singh says. “I predictthere will be a model that combines elementsof how oncology drugs are sold and how inter-national salesforces work, highlighting profes-sional standards and pertinent information,
BY ROBIN ROBINSON
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Jeff BakerNoble Marketing Group
“Custom-designed educational tools that thesales rep can use as a sales and detailing toolwill grow in popularity to showcase thebrand’s message.”
Dr. Evan DemestihasThe Medical Affairs Company
“Future field-based teams will have a greaterreliance on clinical studies and evidence-basedmedicine.”
Our experts agree: the salesforce of the future will be more specialized, more
technically advanced, and more clinically savvy; oh, and there will be
FEWER FEET ON THE STREET, finally.
THE FUTURETHE SALESFORCE OF
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ble clinical reasons when to use, and not use, adrug, and the pharmacoeconomic benefits andadvantages to the financial decision makers.”Under this new service model, Ms. Mosby
expects that there will be more shared respon-sibilities.“The responsibility for outcomes will not
fall solely on the sales function,” she says.“There will be a need for team support; spe-cialists in reimbursement and governmentalpolicies will add direction and focus. Teamleaders on the sales side might be accountmanagers coming from managed markets orspecialty representatives who have becomeexperts in specialty therapeutic areas.“Those in these leadership roles should
work with district managers to ensure pull-through of the value-based message,” Ms.Mosby adds. “There will still be a line drawnbetween sales and medical, but because themessages and activities of sales will be moremedically focused on outcomes data and clini-cal research, it will be easier to work effective-ly as an internal team because some of the samegoals and expected outcomes will prevail.”
A NEW SALES PARADIGM:CRM AND SAMPLING In the coming years, more nonpersonal
sampling modalities will be employed —vouchers, coupons, sample cards, e-sampling,telesampling — to supplement the cutbacks ofsales reps and the merging of resources andbudget constraints. And CRM will take a lead-ing role in educating and servicing physicians. “Today, many field salesforces are still a pri-
mary distribution route for samples, butincreases in alternative distribution modali-ties,” Mr. Keefer says. “In the future, there will
likely be a cap on the samples allocated tophysicians. Technology will continue to enablesignificant advances in how samples are allo-cated, distributed, and tracked in ways that wemay not have envisioned in the past.”Patrick Brundage, practice leader for enter-
prise analytics practice at Cognizant, say inaddition to the changing role of the individualrepresentative, sales reps are being asked toimplement new technologies, such as tablet-based detailing to create a richer, more cus-tomized interaction with each physician. Our experts say CRM will become more
important as reps use more nonpersonal pro-motion following secular sales trends. “Sampling may migrate to nonpersonal
promotion or diminish, as its ROI may be sub-optimal in commoditized product and thera-peutic classes,” Mr. Nugent predicts.
while giving sales reps more regional controlto address issues.”Jeff Baker, president and CEO of Noble
Marketing Group, says pharma salesforceswould do well to focus most of their efforts onpolicymakers and payers, who increasinglydetermine which medicines are prescribed. Mr. Landekic agrees. “The reps of the future
will need to employ more nondetailing pro-motion, such as direct mail, publications fea-turing clinical trial data, local symposia, and,in particular, targeting decision makers atmanaged care providers to place drugs on for-mularies in the new world.”The new salesforce will not lose sight of the
physicians’ informational needs. According toEvan Demestihas, M.D., R.Ph., CEO of TheMedical Affairs Company, the salesforce of thefuture will be a scientifically based field teamwhose primary skill will be that of a learned,credible resource to physicians.“They will be comprised of more healthcare
professionals who can provide a peer-to-peerinteraction with a greater use of clinical stud-ies and evidence-based medicine,” he says. “Asthe model evolves, this will help fulfill theenhanced value proposition of providing gen-uine worth to physicians’ practices.”Nancy Lurker, CEO of PDI, says physicians
are demanding more value from their interac-tions with pharmaceutical reps. “If physicians are going to give a pharma-
ceutical rep face time in today’s ever-changinghealthcare delivery environment, they expectto learn more than the product informationthey might get through detail aids or nonper-sonal delivery,” she says. “They want to knowthe latest formulary changes and how itimpacts their patients, what is the latest sci-ence on the brand’s impact on disease statemanagement, what current healthcare issuesare impacting their community, and how theymight better serve their patients. This need fora higher-quality interaction is driving theindustry to look more closely at their customerand rep profiles to optimize resource align-ment and ensure that physician needs areappropriately met. Now more than ever, hir-ing reps with the right intrinsic characteristicsand then providing them with best-in-classtraining and next-generation customer man-agement tools is critical to future success.” With payers becoming more important in
influencing prescription decisions, accountmanagement skills and knowledge about payerpolicies will also become increasingly necessaryto the sales rep and the salesforce as a whole,says Manish Gupta, director at Indegene. “Reps will need clinical and pharmacoeco-
nomic knowledge to be able to discourse on ahigher, more sophisticated level than is simplyrequired with a detail call,” Mr. Landekic adds.“They will need to be able to address the tangi-
81PharmaVOICE Nov emb e r /D e c emb e r 2 0 0 9
Manish GuptaIndegene
“Physician engagement platforms will enable pharmacompanies to add significantvalue to a physician's practiceand hence build a relationshipof trust.”
Patrick BrundageCognizant
“A sales rep will needdeep therapeutic
expertise, be able tointeract with large
organizations, and be aspecialist in a particular
area and a trustedinformation source for
the physicians.”
Rick KeeferPublicis Strategic Solutions Group
“CRM allows the industry to move from abroadcast approach to one that allows realconversations with customers.”
Celeste MosbyWilson Learning Worldwide
“The sales model as we know it today is shifting to more of a service model with afocus on patient outcomes.”
SALES & Marketing
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“Salesforces will see fewer initiativestoward sample distribution because this isalready under scrutiny,” Mr. Singh says. “Thetrend toward leaner salesforces will mean thatphysician education and CRM will be key forall healthcare practitioners and these tacticswill rely on more electronic communicationand data capture.”Ms. Mosby says as analytics for key health-
care providers are tracked, the output of thisinformation should be linked to individualiz-ing messages and service opportunities for thesalesforce to position. “While there is never going to be a dimin-
ishing need for educating healthcareproviders, there will be more of an emphasison training physicians on how to make theright prescribing decisions,” she says. “Sales-forces will need to share educational resourceswith healthcare providers that are rooted inresearch and that examine the impact of treat-ment on various patient profiles.” CRM allows the industry to move from a
broadcast approach to one that enables realconversations with customers, says Mr. Keefer. “True integration of all customer touch
points — field sales and service teams, virtualand inside sales and service, clinical health edu-cators, direct mail, Websites, speaker bureaus,e-marketing, and so on — can be a challenge,”he says. “Technology that allows for true inte-gration and a single customer view is here. Inthe next few years, this integrated approach willbe the norm rather than the exception.” Mr. Landekic predicts that as physician
education continues to become more central-ized and more fundamental, the focus willmove to clinical benefits rather than “brute-force” promotion. The industry will shift away from using
branded products to create awareness in thephysician office to a more comprehensive edu-cational marketing strategy. “Logoed products are a thing of the past,”
Mr. Baker says. “The shift to educational mar-keting is good for healthcare providers,patients, and the brands that serve them. Thebrands that adapt the fastest will find them-selves best positioned to capture the marketshare of their competitors.” �
PharmaVOICE welcomes comments about this
article. E-mail us at [email protected].
82 Nov emb e r /D e c emb e r 2 0 0 9 PharmaVOICE
SEE DIGITAL EDITION FOR BONUS CONTENTWWW.PHARMAVOICE.COM
JEFF BAKER. President and CEO, Noble
Marketing Group, a provider of PhRMA-
compliant creative marketing solutions for
pharmaceutical, biotech, and healthcare
providers. For more information, visit
gonoblerx.com.
PATRICK BRUNDAGE. Practice Leader,
Enterprise Analytics Practice, Cognizant, a
provider of information technology,
consulting, analytics, and business process
outsourcing services. For more information,
visit cognizant.com.
EVAN DEMESTIHAS, M.D., R.PH. CEO, The
Medical Affairs Company, a full-service
contract medical organization that
provides the pharmaceutical,
biotechnology, and medical-device
industries with strategically sound,
expertly staffed, and flawlessly
executed medical affairs solutions. For
more information, visit
themedicalaffairscompany.com.
MANISH GUPTA, B.TECH., MBA. Director,
Indegene, a provider of transformational
services, including scientific content, creative
services, and business intelligence solutions to
enhance commercialization and marketing
success of life-science companies worldwide.
For more information, visit indegene.com.
RICK KEEFER. President and CEO, Publicis
Strategic Solutions Group, a division of Publicis
Healthcare Communications Group, which
aligns four Publicis message delivery
companies under one cohesive leadership
team. For more information, visit
publicishealthcare.com.
NICHOLAS LANDEKIC. President and CEO of
PolyMedix Inc., an emerging biotechnology
company focused on the development of
novel drugs and biomaterials for the treatment
of infectious diseases and acute cardiovascular
disorders. For more information, visit polymedix.com.
NANCY LURKER. CEO, PDI Inc., which provides
strategic flexibility; sales, marketing, and
commercialization expertise; and a philosophy of
performance. For more information, visit pdi-inc.com.
CELESTE MOSBY. VP, Life Sciences, Wilson Learning
Worldwide, which provides human performance
improvement solutions for Global 2000, Fortune 500,
and emerging organizations worldwide. For more
information, visit wilsonlearning.com.
TERRY NUGENT. VP Marketing, Medical Marketing
Service Inc., which provides lists that maximize results
and minimize costs in the dynamic medical
marketing industry. For more information, visit
mmslists.com.
RAJ SINGH. VP and General Manager, Formedic, a
provider of customized, professional medical forms to
more than 200,000 physicians in more than 23
specialties. For more information, visit formedic.com.
Nicholas LandekicPolyMedix
“In an ever- changingworld, the traditional
sales rep is continuing to
become less relevantto product marketing.”
Nancy LurkerPDI
“The need for a higher qualityinteraction is driving the industry to look more closely attheir customer and rep profilesto optimize resource alignmentand ensure that physicianneeds are appropriately met.”
Raj SinghFormedic
“The sales rep of the future will not only have tohave product knowledge but also have apharmacoeconomic background.”
EXPERTS ON THIS TOPIC
SALES & Marketing
What sets the artist apart from one who merely paints? The tools may appear to be similar – paint and brushes, canvas and light. But to create a masterwork – one that endures – takes something more. Experience, innovation, and vision – these qualities distinguish an artist.
At inVentiv Selling Solutions, we apply this approach to the challenges faced by our clients in the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry. Our palette is a dynamic spectrum of complementary services: sales teams recruiting, training and deployment; interactive and virtual communications; sample management; logistics; and data analysis. Our unique strategies blend long-term and diverse experience, innovation carefully applied to your objectives; and the vision to help position you for the future while resolving the challenges you face today.
See what sets us apart. Contact inVentiv Selling Solutions today.
inVentiv Selling Solutions | a division of inVentiv Health | 800.416.0555 | www.inventivhealth.com/sellingsolutions
The right tools, the right talent.
And something more.
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What sets the artist apart from one who merely paints? The tools may appear to be similar – paint and brushes, canvas and light. But to create a masterwork – one that endures – takes something more. Experience, innovation, and vision – these qualities distinguish an artist.
At inVentiv Selling Solutions, we apply this approach to the challenges faced by our clients in the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry. Our palette is a dynamic spectrum of complementary services: sales teams recruiting, training and deployment; interactive and virtual communications; sample management; logistics; and data analysis. Our unique strategies blend long-term and diverse experience, innovation carefully applied to your objectives; and the vision to help position you for the future while resolving the challenges you face today.
See what sets us apart. Contact inVentiv Selling Solutions today.
inVentiv Selling Solutions | a division of inVentiv Health | 800.416.0555 | www.inventivhealth.com/sellingsolutions
The right tools, the right talent.
And something more.
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arlier this year, Manhattan Researchreleased a report that concluded thatphysicians are amenable to videodetailing. The ePharma Physician
v8.0 study found that the majority of physi-cians who have engaged in online video meet-ings with a pharma sales rep or call centerreported that they were satisfied with the expe-rience. However, industry experts don’t antici-pate that the virtual mechanism will replaceface-to-face sales calls any time soon, even inthis economy. Terry Nugent, VP of marketing at Medical
Marketing Service, calls the slow uptake of e-detailing “one of the mysteries of medical mar-keting.”
Mr. Nugent believes that some of the resis-tance may stem from incumbent salesforcesthat perceive e-detailing as a threat, or perhapsthe industry’s inability to incentivize physi-cians to participate. “The innovation cannot replace the rela-
tionship achieved by successful reps withreceptive practices, but it is still a good tool,”he says. “This is clearly the solution to much ofthe problem facing pharma — the industryneeds to adopt secular sales trends. Personalselling is much less a factor in secular businessthan it once was; much more sales activity hasbeen done electronically via e-mail or phone.Younger physicians will be much more recep-tive to this avenue of communication and thetechnology is there to make it work.” Ahnal Purohit, Ph.D., president and CEO of
Purohit Navigation, says undoubtedly therewill always be room for alternative methods ofsales interaction.“While the ratio of technologically
advanced approaches will change, I believe
there will always be a need for live meetings,”Dr. Purohit says.When e-detailing was first introduced to
the industry, people talked about the possibil-ity of it replacing live details. That hasn’t hap-pened yet, because the face-to-face relationshipis still viable, says Nancy Beesley, executiveVP, at HC&B Healthcare Communications. “Nothing will ever replace the doctor-rep
relationship; there is a connection, and trustand loyalty are built,” she says. “That relation-ship, however, is strengthened by ongoing dia-logue. Video detailing will have its place, butI hope it’s always as an adjunct to traditionaldetailing.” “Video detailing is definitely the wave of the
future,” says Patrick Brundage, practice leaderfor enterprise analytics practice at Cognizant.“More physician interaction is going digital.”Nick Colucci, president and CEO at Publi-
cis Healthcare Communications Group, callse-detailing “the future of physician selling,”and notes that the present barrier to universaladoption might be resolved with a slight shiftin perspective. “Successful e-detailing is built on the
premise of strengthening relationships withphysicians by improving how they work —faster, smarter, more proactive — at a timewhen patients demand better, more informedcare,” Mr. Colucci says. “E-detailing can beadded to the marketing mix without remov-ing the sales rep from the relationship.”The key is to trust the established relation-
ship between the sales rep and doctor, and thendevelop tools that are flexible enough for asales rep to use, based on the different needs ofhis or her call base.“Using technology to supplement in-per-
son detail efforts, sales reps can provide datafrom leading journals, professional confer-ences, other physicians’ experiences, and drugcompany literature virtually, while also reach-ing lower-deciles targets through cost-effectivemeasures,” he says. “Nothing will replace theinterpersonal relationship between a sales rep
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SALESFORCES
2010 :YEAR IN PREVIEW
»
Despite the benefits, UPTAKE OF THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN SLOW.
E
VIDEO DETAILING IS A TOOL,NOT A THREAT
Nancy BeesleyHC&B Healthcare Communications
“Video detailing will have its place, but I hopeit’s always as an adjunct to traditional detailing.”
Nick ColucciPublicis Healthcare Communications
“Successful e-detailing is built on the premise ofstrengthening relationships with physicians byimproving how they work — faster, smarter,more proactive — at a time when patientsdemand better, more informed care.”
Nov emb e r /D e c emb e r 2 0 0 9 PharmaVOICE
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and a physician, regardless of the expansion orconstriction of the industry. But, in times ofconstriction, sales reps need more tools in theirbag to create relevance, connectivity, and rela-tionships with the entire physician practice,and video detailing can be one of those tools.”As traditional methods of detailing become
more difficult to maintain based on both thediminished salesforce and the physicians’ eco-nomic pressures to limit face time with salesreps, e-detailing can provide a flexibility andeconomy to the marketing plan by enablingphysicians to choose either a self-guided orinteractive review of product messaging.
E-DETAILING BEYOND THE COMMERCIAL“The e-detail is evolving beyond the simple
Internet-based commercial to become anadvanced educational and marketing tool thatcan be carried by the rep for both interactive orleave-behind convenience,” says Michael Lafer-rera, senior VP, sales and marketing, at J.Knipper. “The latest breed of e-detail also col-lects information based on responses to inter-active content for improved marketingresults.” Evan Demestihas, M.D., R.Ph., CEO of
The Medical Affairs Company, believes thetechnology can evolve even further. “Largely a factor of convenience, video
detailing still does not address the issue ofphysicians who desire more scientific informa-tion via this medium,” he says. “The industryshould transform video detailing into a moremedically based scientific exchange to meetthe expectations of those physicians preferringelectronic communications.”As the market and salesforces become more
complex, newer channels such as live videodetailing are being added to augment the fieldsales team’s impact, says Rick Keefer, presidentand CEO of Publicis Strategic Solutions Group.“Novel channels such as live video detailing
will increasingly be part of the message deliv-ery mix” he says.“Video detailing/e-detailing and other ways
to engage physicians in nonpersonal meanswill continue to gain importance and value,”says Mike Myers, president of Palio. “I wouldnot, however, recommend diving in complete-
ly at the onset. Salesforces are going to need toexperiment with new approaches and be will-ing to change their approach based on feed-back and results.” The power of online communication is its
ability to time-shift dialogue. Someone canpost an entry on Facebook or a blog knowingthat friends will comment over the course ofthe day as they check their online accounts.“In the same way, busy physicians rarely
have time for a synchronous conversation,whether in-person or online, that is not origi-nated by them out of a specific need,” saysDave Ormesher, CEO, Closerlook. “Physiciansappreciate short, high-quality virtual detailsthat are available on an as-needed basis. We’vecome a long way in creating the virtual repconcept in piecemeal — it will be imperativeto proactively build these strategies from theground up as we move forward.” Dave Chapman, managing partner, Com-
monHealth, says scientific reps will have to beWeb and communication experts able to accessinformation instantly to provide the physicianwith the fullest array of depth across therapeu-tic information and clinical information. “If a Twitter feed direct from the surgical
suite at the Cleveland Clinic is what will movethat doctor, reps need to be able to use thattechnology,” he says. “One word of caution,however, regulatory and legal constraints willneed to be completely rethought andrevamped so that the only information theycan provide isn’t old and prepackaged.”Video detailing should be used as a sustain-
ability tool, not the foundation for developing
SALES & Marketing
DIGITAL EDITION — BONUS CONTENT
Dave ChapmanCommonHealth
“Scientific reps will have to be Web and communicationexperts able to access information instantly to providethe physician with the fullest array of depth across therapeutic and clinical information.”
Kim LevyMicroMass
“Most video detailing isstill information being
pushed to the physicianrather than a two-way
conversation.”
Dave OrmesherCloserlook
“Physicians appreciate short, high-quality virtual details that are available on
an as-needed basis.”
PharmaVOICE Nov emb e r /D e c emb e r 2 0 0 9
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the main customer relation-ships, which should be thepurpose of face-to-facemeetings with sales reps. “A best practice would
be to include as part of thevideo detail, discussionpoints to be addressed bysales reps during follow-upface-to-face interactions,”says Celeste Mosby, VP, lifesciences, of Wilson LearningWorldwide. “These touchpoints will become part of acontiuous messaging andlearning process for thephysician. Physicians havewelcomed this new
approach because they like to examine infor-mation when they have time to fully under-stand the details of the messages.“Research states that it takes an average of
seven times to hear a message before there is achange in a physician’s prescribing habits,”
Ms. Mosby says. “Therefore, video detailingshould be considered the awareness compo-nent, which positions key information thatenables reps to come in, build relationships,and ask the right questions that link to quick-er product and service solutions. Because of thereduction in salesforces, there could potential-ly be longer periods of time that physiciansmight not be exposed to important messages.Video detailing allows for more frequent touchpoints over an extended period of time.”For Kim Levy, senior VP at MicroMass
Communications, the point is less about thechannel and more about the experience. “Whether a conversation is started by a rep
or through an online tool, it has to be a dia-logue experience that has a real impact,” shesays. “Most video detailing is still informationbeing pushed to the physician rather than atwo-way conversation.” �
PharmaVOICE welcomes comments about this
article. E-mail us at [email protected].
Nov emb e r /D e c emb e r 2 0 0 9 PharmaVOICE
DIGITAL EDITION — BONUS CONTENT
SALES & Marketing
NANCY BEESLEY. Executive VP, Client
Services, HC&B Healthcare
Communications, an independent, full-
service healthcare advertising agency. For
more information, visit hcbhealth.com.
PATRICK BRUNDAGE. Practice Leader,
Enterprise Analytics Practice, Cognizant, a
provider of information technology,
consulting, analytics, and business process
outsourcing services. For more
information, visit cognizant.com
DAVE CHAPMAN. Managing Partner,
CommonHealth, a WPP company, is a
network of highly specialized healthcare
marketing companies, all aligned to build
brands that dominate. For more
information, visit commonhealth.com.
NICK COLUCCI. President and CEO,
Publicis Healthcare Communications
Group, a fully integrated division of
Publicis Groupe SA. For more information,
visit publicishealthcare.com.
EVAN DEMESTIHAS, M.D., R.PH. CEO, The
Medical Affairs Company, a provider of
strategically aligned and customized MSL
programs. For more information, visit
themedicalaffairscompany.com.
RICK KEEFER. President, CEO, Publicis
Strategic Solutions Group, a division of
Public is Healthcare Communications Group,
which aligns four Publicis message delivery
companies under one cohesive leadership
team. For more information, visit
publicishealthcare.com.
MICHAEL J. LAFERRERA. Senior VP, Sales and
Marketing, J. Knipper & Co. Inc., a provider of
healthcare marketing solutions for direct
marketing, sampling, compliance, information
technology, and salesforce productivity. For
more information, visit knipper.com.
KIM LEVY. Senior VP, MicroMass
Communications, a behavioral science-based
marketing organization that provides
communication strategies and solutions for
the healthcare industry. For more information,
visit micromass.com.
CELESTE MOSBY. VP, Life Sciences, Wilson
Learning Worldwide, a human performance
improvement solutions provider for Global
2000, Fortune 500, and emerging organizations
worldwide. For more information, visit
wilsonlearning.com.
MIKE MYERS. President, Palio, a full-spectrum
advertising and marketing firm serving
primarily the pharmaceutical industry. For more
information, visit palio.com.
TERRY NUGENT. VP Marketing, Medical
Marketing Service Inc., provides lists that
maximize results and minimize costs in the
dynamic medical marketing industry. For more
information, visit mmslists.com.
DAVE ORMESHER. CEO, Closerlook Inc., a
strategic marketing agency specializing in
healthcare with an emphasis on strategy,
creativity, and innovation. For more
information, visit closerlook.com.
AHNAL PUROHIT, PH.D. President and CEO,
Purohit Navigation, an independent, full-service
brand solutions company that navigates the
full potential of small- to midsized specialty
brands. For more information, visit
purohitnavigation.com.
EXPERTS ON THIS TOPIC
Dr. Ahnal PurohitPurohit Navigation
“While the ratio of technologically advancedapproaches will change, there will always be aneed for live meetings.”
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PharmaVOICE Nov emb e r /D e c emb e r 2 0 0 9
DIGITAL EDITION — BONUS CONTENT
KARLA ANDERSON is Managing Director,
Pharmaceuticals and Life-Sciences Advisory
Services Group, PricewaterhouseCoopers,
which provides industry-focused assurance,
tax, and advisory services. For more
information, visit pwc.com or e-mail
“The customer interaction model is changing,including the movement from face to face as
the primary interaction method to a more
multichannel interaction model and the
changing allocation of field resources focused
on the customer segments-funders, payers,
prescribers, intermediaries, and consumers.
There is a growing market demand by all
customer segments for relative value
demonstration from the manufacturers,
which in turn requires the manufacturers to
modify pricing approaches, to refine market
messages, to increase postmarketing
surveillance focus, and to create
outcomes/evidence-based differentiation.
There is increasing demand for a more
integrated market approach from the clinical,
promotional, service, and safety perspective,
including the need to account for the
requirement of REMS, the customer demand
for more clinically oriented interactions, and
the need to wrap support services into
product offerings for selected therapeutic
areas to establish differentiation.
The changes to the sales model must be
transformational. The new model has to create
value in the market and yet be cost-effective in
light of price compression. Companies need to
think about the customer interaction model
from an integrated approach and the idea of
using their field forces as coordinators of an
overall set of customer interactions within a
local market.”DAVE CHAPMAN is
Managing Partner at
CommonHealth, a WPP
company, is a network of
highly specialized
healthcare marketing
companies, all aligned to build brands that
dominate. For more information, visit
commonhealth.com.
“There is a level of demoralization withinthe sales ranks. Can you imagine hearing
virtually every day in every channel that
you’ve become obsolete, watching your
group get continually downsized, or knowing
your bread-and-butter brand is about to lose
patent with no replacement? A few minutes
on any Café Pharma chat room will make you
laugh and cry.
Access — both definitions — are
impacting the sales arena. The first meaning is
that even great data and a trusted
relationship can’t overcome a product with
highly restricted access due to an exorbitant
co-pay or requirement for prior authorization.
The second, means more and more no-see
physicians; productivity rules the practice and
groups, hospitals, and academia are banning
sales representatives as way to eliminate
‘influence’ and control costs.
Digital media are changing the sales
arena. First is the physical aspect of moving
away from paper-based ‘detailing’ visual aids
and toward interactive tablet PC selling. It’s
just not a shift every salesperson can make,
and it will change the qualities of and
qualifications for who is recruited. Second is
the Internet. New information, product
launches, clinical trial results, and more are in
the doctor’s hands at the speed of light. How
do you wow someone with a reprint carrier
that took months to get out of regulatory
and legal review when the physician received
a tweet on the study results and discussed
with colleagues on Sermo the day it came
out?”NICK COLUCCI is President
and CEO of Publicis
Healthcare Communications
Group, a fully integrated
division of Publicis Groupe
SA. For more information,
visit publicishealthcare.com.
“Aging product portfolios, coupled withreimbursement-driven comparative
effectiveness, are forcing pharma companies
to rethink the hallmarks of effective detailing.
The selling experience is shifting toward
improving product adherence and
compliance through patient assistance
programs, reimbursement, and patient
education.
Niche indications, orphan diseases, and
high-profile chronic health concerns require a
more discernable level of knowledge and
insight drawn from diagnosis, treatment, and
drug registries. This shift is transforming sales
reps into customer-centric, subject-matter
experts.
Clinical expertise is hard to access and
come by — it’s the coin of the patient-
treatment realm. Medical science liaisons offer
expertise and a skill set separating the
company and brand from the pack. And, with
sales reps having a tougher time gaining
physician access, science-specific visits cross
the medical-practice moat easily and with
greater appreciated value.”PAUL DREYER is Chief Commercial Strategist
at Friday Morning, a new company formed to
help clients address the pervasive distrust that
increasingly characterizes the relationship
between physicians and the pharmaceutical
industry. For more information, visit
fridaymorning.com.
“Restoring trust is the most critical issue facing pharma. When the relationship with
pharma’s key customer — the physician — is
broken, even the most skillfully crafted
communication will not be heard. Effective
communication of a brand’s benefits and risks
to potential prescribers and their patients is a
critical responsibility of a pharma company
and its agency. When this communication
process is done well, patient outcomes are
improved. But when this communication
process breaks down, all of the innovation our
industry is renowned for comes to naught. It is
critical to take steps to improve trust.”DAVID MERKEL is Senior VP,
Business Solutions, at J.
Knipper & Co. Inc., a provider
of healthcare marketing
solutions for direct
marketing, sampling,
compliance, IT, and salesforce productivity. For
more information, visit knipper.com.
Sound Bites From The Field
PHARMAVOICE ASKED INDUSTRY EXPERTS TO IDENTIFY THE TOP FACTORS THEY BELIEVE ARE CURRENTLY IMPACTING SALESFORCES.
SALES & Marketing
more >
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Nov emb e r /D e c emb e r 2 0 0 9 PharmaVOICE
DIGITAL EDITION — BONUS CONTENT
SALES & Marketing
2000, Fortune 500, and
emerging organizations
worldwide. For more
information, visit
wilsonlearning.com.
“With tightening promotional controls andsmaller salesforces, those in sales positions will
need to learn how to leverage intellectual and
emotional customer engagement as a key
differentiator and learn how to build stronger
relationships with greater trust and empathy.
Healthcare providers engage with those who
they feel most comfortable with and trust.
Physicians in particular must be able to trust
the information that is coming from
representatives. Becoming credible sources of
valued information to help physicians and
healthcare providers achieve better patient
outcomes is and will continue to be the focus,
and ultimately that which differentiates one
representative from another.
The impact of managed care restrictions
will increase the need for defined plans that
include roles and responsibilities of each
member of the sales team. Even primary-care
sales professionals must move from a reactive
to a proactive approach in order to add value
to their interaction with physicians who
contract with many insurers. Most managed
care expertise and discussions used to be a
big part of managed markets account
managers’ responsibilities; now every level of
those who support the sales function will
have to transition and integrate valuable
resources that help healthcare providers
analyze all aspects about products in a
specific therapeutic class, including co-pay
and formulary access. This geographic-specific
approach will need to change everything
from training on how to have these
discussions, to the development of key access
messages and sales aids that make it easy for
sales professionals to help healthcare
providers make sense out of all of the
complexity.
Creating training for sales professionals
and sales managers that truly changes
behaviors and impacts performance warrants
an approach to training that necessitates a
drastic change from the way it has been done
in the past. Training today requires a focus on
extending the learning beyond the classroom
to ensure reinforcement and application of
the new skills. Learning journeys and
environments by which there is a venue to
reach more learners, more frequently, with
more applicable tools are needed. Extended
learning platforms that leverage both face-to-
face and virtual touch points enable the
delivery of consistent core and individual
learning opportunities, equipping the
salesforce to be more grounded and fluent in
integrated value-based messages.”RAJESH NAIR, MMS, MBA,
is President and CEO of
Indegene, a provider of
transformational services,
including scientific content,
creative services, and
business intelligence solutions that leverage a
global services model to enhance
commercialization and marketing success of
life-sciences companies worldwide. For more
information, visit indegene.com.
“The ability to generate and maintainmeaningful relationships with physicians is
significantly impaired. This is being driven by
the dramatic reduction in face time — detail
time — with doctors, changing information-
seeking behaviors of physicians, and rigid
communication and promotional guidelines
that make it difficult to deliver customized
information and support.
The current economic milieu is adversely
impacting the training process. The
restructuring of salesforce portfolios as well as
the complex nature of new products being
launched require an increasing quantum of
training. The time as well as the budgets
available for training, however, are reducing in
the face of accelerated launch schedules and
overall cost rationalization initiatives.
The sales process is getting more complex,
with increasing numbers of stakeholders
impacting the prescription decision. There are
newer prescriber and influencer groups,
including nurse practitioners, physician
assistants, and pharmacists apart from
physicians. The salesforce needs to
understand and manage the needs and
expectations of these new stakeholders to
ensure success.”
Sound Bites From The Field (continued)
“Restricted access to doctors is still the primary barrier for salesforces. Not only are
doctors limited in time, many facilities and
practices continue to create policies limiting
rep access.
Data restriction programs limit
representatives’ abilities to view information
about a doctor and a practice. Numerous
state legislations will add additional pressures
and limit the pharmaceutical companies from
purchasing script data, making measuring
results more challenging.
The move toward more online
information sharing crowds out rep visit time.
As doctors access the vast resources on the
Internet, they are able to use resources and
pull information on their schedule. Salesforces
must integrate their personal interactions
with technology platforms to cater to doctors’
preferences.”NANCY LURKER is CEO of
PDI Inc., a provider of
strategic flexibility; sales,
marketing, and
commercialization
expertise; and a philosophy
of performance. For more information, visit
pdi-inc.com.
“Today’s selling environment may limit therep’s ability to a visit that is nothing more than
a sample drop. This is a role better suited to a
lower-level rep, rather than a highly trained,
experienced rep. What the experienced rep
has to do is to get back to the basics of
relationship building and finding ways to
bring value to the customer — be they
physicians, physician assistants, office
managers, nursing home managers,
payers, etc.
The evolving role of technology in terms
of content delivery — e-detailing, Webcasts,
and other uses of the Internet — are all
wonderful tools savvy reps can use to
enhance their customer relationships. When
used effectively, these are productive tools in
overcoming some of the downside resulting
from limited face time.”CELESTE MOSBY. VP, Life Sciences, Wilson
Learning Worldwide, a human performance
improvement solutions provider for Global
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wal
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phar
mav
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SALES & Marketing
DIGITAL EDITION — BONUS CONTENT
DAVE ORMESHER is CEO of
closerlook inc., a strategic
marketing agency
specializing in healthcare
with an emphasis on
strategy, creativity, and
innovation. For more information, visit
closerlook.com.
“The top three factors impacting sales in2010 will contribute to undermining the
confidence of pharmaceutical sales
representatives.
The first factor is that hostile office staff
and a general suspicion of the industry will
continue to create a negative daily work
environment for many sales reps. Second, the
fear of being downsized will continue to be a
threat as large pharma companies attempt to
rationalize their acquisitions and reduce their
costs to maintain profitability. And third, a lack
of value-add benefits to offer the physician in
light of PhRMA guidelines highlights the
dearth of good marketing support.”BETH PRICE is Executive VP
at The Medical Affairs
Company, a full-service
contract medical
organization (CMO) that
provides the
pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and
medical-device industries with strategically
sound, expertly staffed, and flawlessly
executed medical affairs solutions.
For more information, visit
themedicalaffairscompany.com.
“Possessing clinical expertise is no longer anice-to-have requisite but a mandatory
requirement for biopharmaceutical and
medical-device field-based personnel.
Healthcare-degreed professionals are best
suited for these positions based on the
evolving peer-to-peer discussions between
physicians and sales representatives.
Federal, state, and company-driven
compliance programs continue to limit the
value and service provided by a traditional
sales representative.
Access issues continue to hinder the
service and value that physicians have
traditionally received from sales
representatives, as numerous institutions and
healthcare practice policies have adopted no-
see policies. Additionally, access is a challenge
based on physicians’ perceptions that limited
value will be provided. When a representative
can provide information, including evidence-
based clinical discussions, physicians are then
more apt and amenable to meet with a
representative.”KEN RIBOTSKY is President
and CEO of The Core Nation
Inc., a holding company
created to leverage
strategic talent and
resources across the three
agencies: Core-Create, Alpha & Omega
Worldwide, and Brandkarma. For more
information visit, thecorenation.com.
“It will be a rocky road for the traditionalsalesforce model. The industry’s salesforce as a
whole is already shrinking and will continue
to decline further in the years to come.
By 2015, the U.S. salesforce is expected to
be 30% less than what it was a decade earlier.
Diminished access to physicians, greater
scrutiny on marketing practices, and more
promotional guidelines will mean ongoing
challenges for the traditional selling and
marketing model.
Additionally, companies will expect their
smaller salesforces to do more in less time
while carrying more products in their bag.
They will be expected to increase their
number of calls per day and become experts in a
greater number of products and physician
specialties. They will also be challenged to
achieve tougher stretch sales goals.
Because of this, nondirect promotions, digital,
and other new media will continue their sharp
trajectory toward greater importance and use.
More targeted promotions that go beyond simply
achieving a greater share of voice will
carry more significance in the effort to influence
healthcare professionals, patients, and
consumers.”RICK ROSENTHAL is Principal
and Practice Leader, Sales Force
Effectiveness, at Health
Strategies Group, which pro-
vides market intelligence and
research to pharmaceutical
and biotechnology professionals. For more
information, visit healthstrategies.com.
“Customer interactions typically consist ofrepetitive, product-focused key messages. This
approach succeeds in achieving legal/regulatory
compliance, but it also positions representatives
poorly. Physicians often view representatives as
having little knowledge beyond the package
insert, and possessing more concern about
products than about patients.
Low product differentiation forces marketing
teams to accentuate product attributes that, from
a prescriber’s perspective, represent relatively
minor differences.”
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Compli
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OICE
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incl
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For d
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prin
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right
s, c
onta
ct m
wal
sh@
phar
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.com